The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-11-21

vessel. behaved nobly. He had all his deck
load OF timber thrown overheard and this lu-
dicious act saved many lives. Only two OF
the Scholten's boats were lowered: Inc
Others could not be got adrift. don't know
whether this was due to any fault on board
or whether the vessel listed over so much
that all the boats could not be dropped. The
people rushed about in the greatest excite
ment, all trying to get a place In the boats
lowered. The scare and disorder prevented
many from being saved. The water was
freezing cold and this hastened the death OF
many, rendering them powerless.
Struggling In the Waves.
Charles Mills of Red Hill, Jersey, says:
"The life boats appeared as If they had not
been used for long time. They had to be
chopped away with axes with the assistance
of passengers. called out to those on the
bridge to fire rockets but it was long time
before they did. The greatest confusion
prevailed and the ship was right over on the
port side before they fired the rockets.
waited until the water touched the boilers,
putting out the fires. Then got hold Of the
bell, buta Dutch sailor snatched 1t away.
We were all mixed up together, foreigners
and English clinging to one another IN the
water saw several drowned in this way
and had the greatest difficulty to keep clear
of them. / gave a spar to woman 20 nold
on to. The Dutch sailors wanted to save
themselves and even threw women aside. 1
can swim well and swan about till got to
the Ebro, when q rope was thrown 10 me.
After the collision / went down into tne
cabin andl awoke two Dutch LADIES'. Iney
were paralyzed with terror and would NOT
get up despite all my entreaties., | heard
various complaints about the conduct OF the
Dutch sailors. The frantic passengers un-
nerved some of the crew, preventing them
l.. kkKaar mil
captain did his best to restore order and be-
lieve good lookout was kept. We had our
lights up"
Another Passengers Story.
Mr.. Appleby, passenger, was in his berth
when the shock came, and rushed on deck,
followed by the crowd, and heard the order
to lower the boats. "The vessel" said he,
''listed to the port side, throwing the passen-
gers together on that side. Only two boats
were lowered. The other six were worth
less. The passengers hindered the lowering
of the boats by rushing against the sailors.
The crew lost valuable time in trying TO
keep the passengers back. When the boats
were down there was a great rush. l stood
no chance, and decided to trust to a life belt;
The scene was appalling when the yessel
sank Women were screaming, children
CRYING, and men shouting Some were on
their knees praying. A struggle in the icy
water followed. [ kept with three others,
named Gold, Stepney and Robson. We
clung to each other and drifted toward the
Ebro, finally reaching that vessel.
The Steamer and Her Commander.
NEW YORK, Nov 2O.-The w. A. Schol-
ten was 3cCo tons burden and one of the fast
est and best constructed vessels in the Meth
erland Navigation Company's service. She
was barkentine rugged with one funnel.
Her dimensions were length, $50 feet; beam,
So: draught 49, She was built in 1874 and
until this summer was commanded by Cap
tain Boujer. Captain Toat, who was in COM
mand at the time Of the collision, has been
in the company's service for ten years, and
is considered most accomplished seaman.
The steamers cargo was general, made up
mostly of oil. The c0mpany's office is at
No. 50 Broadway and was besieged today by
many friends of the passengers. The doors
were closed.
The steamer was valued at quarter OF
a million. A despatch received today says
that Captain Toat was among the lost.